


Thank You

by Cheeseydare



Series: Finding Peace [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Best Friends, Betrayal, F/M, Fluff, Harmony - Freeform, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Harry and Hermione are Emotionally Stunted, Harry and Hermione would be so done with Britain after the war, Loosely inspired by the Led Zeppelin song Thank You, Might expand if the inspiration hits me, New Relationship, One Shot, but we love them anyway, let's be real, love potions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 19:44:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20431433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheeseydare/pseuds/Cheeseydare
Summary: Harmony Fluff.Harry on the brink of leaving Britain reflects on the woman he loves.Said woman blows through his front door and collapses in his arms.Truths are revealed and new relationships formed.





	Thank You

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy, first posted work. I've been a looooong time fanfic reader, and have been writing stuff for about three years. This idea just hit me, so I said what the hell? Harmony>>>>>>>>>>>  
Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!

Harry watched as she waved at him from the picture in his hands. Their arms were thrown about each other’s shoulders, and they were grinning like loons. They turned to look at each other and burst out laughing, trying to wave through the tears of mirth spilling down their cheeks.

A ghost of a smile floated on his real face. He just wished…

No. He wouldn’t go there, not again. His eyes slid to the desk in front of him. The Lord’s desk. In the Lord’s study. Harry snorted. He was a kid playing at real life and not very well. He needed her, wouldn’t have survived the last year without her, but she was with _him. _

He tried to convince himself it was fine, but he had never been a proficient liar, and certainly not when it felt like there was a hole in his chest when he saw them together. He tried to convince himself that his offer to go to Rome to study and work was a good offer, and it was. But he was honest enough to admit it was driven mostly by cowardice. He couldn’t bear to look at them together.

The wards let him know someone had arrived. Since they hadn’t been immediately displaced, it could only be her. She was the only one with unrestricted access because she was Hermione, she had never needed his permission, it was implicit from sometime during their first year. She trusted him and he trusted her. They were Harry and Hermione, the doer and the thinker. Yin and yang.

His contemplation was broken by the door slamming hard enough to rattle the window in his second floor office. He shot to his feet and was halfway down the stairs before he even thought about it. His wand slipped into his palm. He could hear her breathing when he got to the bottom of the stairs; it was heavy, which meant she was extremely upset. Everyone made cracks about Weasley temper, but when Hermione truly hit the ceiling, it would cow a dragon.

She had made it to the sitting room and was pacing back and forth. Her magic was arcing off of her in little blueish jolts and her hair had frizzed from the energy coursing through her. Her face was as red as Harry’s old Gryffindor Quidditch robes. Harry thought Hermione looked absolutely amazing, and a small part of him broke further. She caught sight of him and her hands were clenched so hard they were shaking.

Harry slipped his wand back into his holster and held his hands out at his side, palms up. She strode at him but Harry didn’t flinch, he trusted her. When Hermione finally stood in front of him she pulled him into a crushing hug, burying her face in his neck. Harry slipped his arms around the only person he had ever enjoyed physical contact with.

Then she burst into great sobs, full body, soul wrenching wails that tore at Harry’s very soul. He gently guided her to a sofa, not saying a word. He knew she didn’t want platitudes, she just wanted him to be there, like she was for him.

They were finally ensconced on the deep sofa, with her seated crosswise in his lap, her head still buried in the junction between his neck and shoulder. Harry slowly rocked her, tears of his own welling up at her obvious pain. He didn’t know what was wrong, but he knew Hermione would tell him once she calmed down. He would sit there and hold her for the rest of his natural life if it made her feel better.

It was a long time before her sobs subsided to softer crying. It was even longer than that before her crying tapered off to sniffles. Neither of them moved, there was no need. Harry floated a throw blanket over them, using magic to tuck it in around her. He knew she felt better when she snuggled deeper into him. It was an odd sort of thing between them; one always sought the other for physical comfort. It had been happening for so long that it just _was. _

He summoned two bottles of water from the kitchen and left them within her reach. Hermione cradled one between her hands, sitting up just enough to drink half of it in one go, before promptly leaning back into him. He pressed his lips against her bushy mass of hair and she sighed.

When her thumb began tapping against his chest rhythmically, he knew she was close to talking, so Harry waited.

“I went to have a checkup today.”

Harry’s heart jumped at those words, his first thought was to wonder if something was wrong with her, and if so, how had he missed it? He unconsciously tightened his grip about her waist.

“It was just a normal checkup. I hadn’t had one in the magic world before I left for Australia. You remember, I had to get one because they had an outbreak of dragon pox. Anyway, the medi-witch told me I was supposed to have them yearly once I started school, and especially after I started getting my period, so yet another thing that got screwed up for us. I’m lucky my cycle was regular because it could have messed with my magical maturation.”

Absently, Harry knew most of his male peers would be horrified at that comment, but he had been with Hermione when she had gotten her first and helped guide her to Madam Pompfrey. Harry learned about it in muggle primary and didn’t really understand the aversion. It’s not like she could help it, but then, he and Hermione had always been closer than most.

“Anyway, I went today for my yearly checkup. And they… they found- oh god, Harry. I can’t, I-I don’t…”

He began rocking her again as her voice began to choke up with emotion. She was taking shuddering breaths to get through her explanation.

“They found potions. I was potioned. Love and aversion.”

Hermione broke down again as Harry’s whole world came to a stop on its axis. His Hermione. His best friend. His truest and in hindsight, first friend. The woman he loved more than anything or anyone else in the world.

His magic swirled with vicious intent. Blood red and thick, it pressed down on everything in the room, shattering frames, bending furniture. Everything but the pair of them was beginning to come apart at the molecular level.

A gentle hand on his cheek brought his vision down to meet hers. Her beautiful whiskey eyes, red-rimmed and filled with tears. His magic folded back into him with a deep breath.

“It’s not worth it, Harry. You know what the laws are like. We have no footing legally, because of our blood status, and frankly, I don’t ever want to see them again.”

Hermione’s voice was so small that his heart cracked in two for her. He pulled her as tight to his body as he could manage, whispering apologies into her hair over and over again.

“Harry, what are you apologizing for?”

“Please, tell me he didn’t- you weren’t… Mi,” his voice was full of broken desperation.

She shook her head rapidly. “I-I couldn’t. I didn’t know why, but anything more than snogging made me nauseous, and even that was… I wasn’t raped, Harry.”

Silent tears slipped down his face. “I’m so sorry, Mi.”

“Morgana! What could you possibly be apologizing about?”

“I should have noticed. I-I should have thought. It never made any sense to me, but I didn’t want to get involved in your business like that,” Harry responded, barely louder than a whisper.

Hermione leaned back to get a good look at his own tearstained face. “Are you…”

“I like you, Mi. Oh hell, who am I kidding anymore? I love you and have done for a long time, but I didn’t want to create problems and make you choose. I know this is an awful time to be-”

He was cut off when she placed a finger against his lips. Hermione favored him with a soft smile. “Believe me when I tell you, Harry James Potter, it was never a choice. It was always you. I just thought…”

Harry sighed. “This is shitty all around, isn’t it?”

“No,” she replied. “There is some good to come out of it.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at her and she simply gave him a little smirk and expectant look. His eyes widened when he caught onto what she was saying, or rather, not saying.

“Hermione Jean Granger, would you like to be my girlfriend?”

She tilted her head and leaned forward with obvious intent. Harry brought his lips to hers and met her in a soft, unhurried kiss. It was full of their love for each other in that moment, of their trust built from the past, and a promise for the future.

They leaned their foreheads against each other. “Yes. Always yes.”

“Please be sure, Hermione. Don’t make this decision because you’re upset, or trying to avoid what you just found out.”

Hermione saw only earnestness and care in his look. He needed her to be sure, because this was the only thing he had ever wanted, and it needed to be real.

“I am sure, Harry. I have been for a long time. I just never thought you would notice me.”

He huffed against her lips. “Notice you? You were the only girl I paid attention to, but you never indicated one way or the other and I’m ashamed to say my courage fled like smoke on the air.”

Hermione pressed her lips against his once again, soft and slow. “I think we can agree that both of us were emotionally stunted for various reasons during our youth.”

“Our youth. Like we’re so old now,” Harry said with a chuckle. Hermione huffed and whacked his shoulder. This only made him laugh harder and the pair ended up tilting over, stretched out on the couch, Hermione rested comfortably atop him. She pillowed her head on his chest, listening to his slow and steady heartbeat. They drifted off to sleep together as they had done dozens of times, but this time, both knew the other was with them in a way they had never been before.

-TY-

It was dark, truly the middle of the night when they roused themselves. They shared gentle smiles and kisses as the memory of their new relationship came back to them. Harry started frowning about her revelation which had set everything off.

“Don’t.”

One word and a soft hand on his cheek was all it took. He would never knowingly do something against her wishes, not when it was about her. He would simply have to find a different way to channel the raging inferno of anger in him. He sighed deeply.

“Thank you.”

Harry snorted lightly. “You know me too well.”

“Yes, and you’re welcome,” she replied primly. He gave her a crooked half grin and then pulled her to her feet and began leading Hermione up the stairs. “Harry James, honestly. If you asked, I would walk with you wherever we’re going. No need to drag me about.”

“Sorry, love. I Just got excited. I was thinking, I know, don’t hurt myself. But since you won’t let me murder everyone involved, and really I mean, Britain, at least the magical bit really sucks, I thought we could go somewhere else. I have something to tell you, but, I need you to hear me out, because I swear there’s an explanation.”

She gave him a bemused smile as he continued to lead her to his study. She was enjoying watching this eager version of him, it happened so rarely, she felt bad about infringing on it. He scooped up a letter from his desk and turned to her with clear anxiousness in his posture. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss. He smiled down at her.

“Right. I got an invitation from a researcher in Rome, who’s a parselmouth. Apparently, there are a bunch of them in the world, especially in the east, Africa, and some parts of the Americas. He wants me to go to Rome and learn under him. And I thought, my new girlfriend is absolutely brilliant, there’s no way she would pass up on a chance to explore a new magical culture. Also, Rome houses the ICW and the Kilbright Academy of Magic,” Harry explained in a rush.

Hermione looked at him for a long few moments. “You were going to Rome?”

He bit his lip and let out a deep sigh. “Do you have any idea how much it hurt to see you with him? I-I’m sorry, Mi. I just couldn’t keep doing that to myself. I would have stayed in touch; I don’t think I could survive without your brilliance.”

“I understand,” she said quietly. “I do. When you were still with Ginny, even with the po-potions, it hurt. I just wish you hadn’t felt running away was your only option.”

“I wish it wasn’t either, Hermione. Though truthfully, I wouldn’t mind living in Rome. I don’t have very much at all tying me to Britain, and I’m sure Andromeda would take an extended holiday with Teddy to live there with us. Thinking about it now, you, Teddy, and Andy are about the only things actually keeping me here. I don’t owe this godforsaken country anything else.”

She looked contemplatively at him. “You’re right. You’re so right it’s startling. Why _are_ we still here? What is worth the pain and struggle this country will continue to give us?”

“Honestly? You. I would stay if you asked me to,” he replied. She shook her head slowly at first, and then faster.

“No. I’m done. Let’s talk to Andy about it. How soon can we be gone?”

He grinned at her. “I could pack up and have my affairs settled here in two days tops. We should move quickly and quietly, vanish into the night. It’s a little bit like an action movie. Can we use codenames?”

Hermione broke into laughter at the genuine excitement the idea of codenames had caused in Harry. He pouted ridiculously at her though he was shaking with his own suppressed laughter.

“Who are you going to study under anyway? You never said,” she finally asked after they calmed down.

“Daichi Nakamura.”

Her jaw dropped open and she stared at him. Then she progressed to opening and closing her mouth. Then she began hitting his chest.

“You were going to study under one the world’s most renowned healers and not say anything to me? Do you know how many books he’s written? He’s a pioneer in a dozen different fields of medicine, mixing magical and muggle methods. And you weren’t going to say anything?!”

Harry shrugged abashedly. “I knew who he was. I read a book of his on parseltongue the summer after second year, when I lived in the Alley. It just never occurred to me that he was special. My own experience with fame has left me rather, disillusioned, by the idea that it means someone is worth it just because they have it.”

She muttered something that sounded a lot like a rude impersonation of his saying “Daichi Nakamura.” Hermione let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry, Harry. It’s just that, I think this one might actually be worth his fame. Congratulations, and I’m so unbelievably proud of you.”

He gave her a wry smile. “Thank you, Mi. It might lead to nothing, but I think it’s worth it to try. I wasn’t excited about going alone, but now, I can’t wait. Everything is better when you’re with me.”

Hermione pulled his head down and snogged him senseless. “I love you, Harry Potter.”

“I love you, too, Hermione Granger. If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.”

“When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.”


End file.
